


Falling Free

by Higgles123



Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:07:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24097075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Higgles123/pseuds/Higgles123
Summary: Tommy Shelby thinks he's come up with a sure fire way to get Alfie to stop double crossing him; marry him off to his sister. Simple right? Or is it? How will Alfie cope with the feelings he develops for his new wife and the overwhelming desire to still get one over on Tommy?
Comments: 16
Kudos: 71





	1. Chapter 1

“No way. It’s not happening. Over my dead body. This time you’ve really gone too far, Thomas Shelby.”

Tommy smoked is cigarette languidly, his stoic face as unreadable as ever. He knew they would react like this, he had prepared himself for it in fact. But he didn’t care what they had to say, what protestations and angry slurs they would throw his way. The only person he cared about was the one sitting silently opposite him with an equally unreadable expression upon her face. 

Niamh Shelby was almost three years younger than Ada, yet she was treated as though she was younger even than Finn. She knew it was just because she was the youngest girl in a family predominantly made up of boys and it had never really bothered her all that. Unlike Ada, who had always been more rebellious, Niamh was just happy to help Charlie at the yard or with the horses, and that suited her brothers just fine. But that didn’t mean she always did as she was told. She had a fiery temper when it suited her and she locked horns with Tommy probably more than anyone else in the family. Polly always said it was because they were too alike, but she couldn’t see it herself. 

“So what do you think, Niamh?” Tommy stubbed out cigarette. 

“Does it matter?” 

Tommy smirked. She knew him too well that little sister of his, and she knew that when his mind was made up there was little to no point in fighting him on it. He knew she would react like this. She would be calm and collected while the rest of the family exploded into expressions of disbelief and disgust. The only time his little Niamh ever argued with him was when it was an argument she knew she could win.

“No it’s doesn’t matter, because it’s not fucking happening,” Polly spat, her eyes full of venom as they glared at her nephew. 

“That’s not up to you, Pol,” Tommy regarded her cooly. “It’s up to Niamh and no one else.”

“You’re an absolute pig,” Polly growled. “You know she won’t say no to you because she never does.”

“On the contrary,” Tommy narrowed his eyes. “I won’t force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do. At the end of the day, Alfie Solomons and myself have come to an arrangement that is beneficial to us all.”

“What you mean is that you hope to keep him on your side by marrying him off to Niamh! Have you forgotten that this is the same man who had Arthur fucking arrested?” 

“I’m well aware of who he is, Polly,” Tommy cleared his throat. “And like I say this is nothing to do with you.”

“Like hell it isn’t! Arthur you can’t seriously tell me you’re going to stand there and say nothing?” 

Arthur shrugged, pulling at the collar of his shirt uncomfortably. Tommy had discussed this with him at length a couple days before, and while the thought of his beautiful baby sister being married to that fucking animal ate him up inside, he knew this was a positive move for them. Tommy was certain this would be a sure fire way to stop Alfie from double crossing them in the future. The benefits had ended up outweighing the cons until even Arthur couldn’t argue the point any longer. 

“Of course you’re not,” Polly scoffed angrily, her eyes dark with anger. “Because you never think for yourself. You do everything Tommy fucking tells you and it’s-“

“-That’s enough!” Niamh stood up and silenced them. “I can’t stand to listen to this any longer. Polly, I appreciate you fighting my corner, I really do, but this is my decision. Tommy, if this is really what you think is best for the family then I’ll do it/”

“You what?” Polly scoffed in disgust.

“You heard me,” Niamh answered, sounding a lot braver than she felt. “I said that I’d do it. Now let that be the end of it.”

“Niamh, sweetheart, I know you tend to go along with whatever hare brained schemes your brother cooks up but this is different,” Polly sighed, taking Niamh’s face in her hands gently. “This is marriage to Alfie bloody Solomons. This is being bound to a man you don’t know for the rest of your life in the hopes that it will keep him loyal to Tommy.” 

“I know, Pol,” Niamh nodded, placing her hands over her aunts. “But I also know that when it comes to this family, you’ve all had to make sacrifices over the years. You’ve done your best to keep me out of the darker side of the family business, but it’s about time that I proved to you all that I care about this family just as much as the rest of you.” 

“You don’t have to prove anything,” Polly smiled sadly. “We know how much you care about us, you daft girl.”

“But if she wants to then let her,” Tommy couldn’t hold back his pleased smirk. 

“Oh look at you, you smug fucking bastard,” Polly whirled to face him and growled. “I hope you’re fucking happy with yourself now. And you,” she pointed at Arthur angrily. “No wonder you’re not fit to call yourself the head of this family when you’re happy to sell your little sister to that despicable man all because Tommy says so.” 

Polly stormed out of the office and slammed the door shut behind her, making the room practically shake. Arthur let out a sigh and looked to his sister who watched the door as though she was waiting to step out of it and into a future that didn’t involve marrying a man she didn’t even know. 

“When is it?” she turned to look at Tommy suddenly.

“What?” he frowned, but Niamh didn’t buy his act for a minute. 

“The wedding,” she sighed. “You knew I wouldn’t say no, so I’m certain you and Solomons have already sorted out the finer details. So when is it?”

“Friday.”

Niamh laughed shortly to herself and shook her head. Three days. In three days, she would marry a man who had double crossed her family at every given opportunity. In three days, she would marry a man she had never even seen before.

“It will be a small affair with just the family at a stately home belonging to a mutual acquaintance of ours,” Tommy spoke quietly, his ice blue eyes boring into his sister’s as he tried to ascertain the thoughts no doubt running through her head. “And after the wedding, you’ll return to Camden as Mrs Alfie Solomons and that’s it.”

“And that’s it,” she murmured. He made it sound so simple, just like he did everything.

But Niamh had a feeling this entire thing was going to be anything but simple.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Like most girls, Niamh Shelby had grown up imagining her wedding day in her head. Beautiful blue skies and a dress that could rival that of a princess. Guests galore to all smile and compliment her, the stunning bride, and flowers that matched the beautiful spring colours of the bridesmaids dresses. The wedding breakfast would be a grand affair and when she danced with her new husband, the entire venue would watch on with such hope and joy for the love that shone in the newlyweds eyes.

With a glance outside the bedroom window at the dark rain clouds rolling towards the stately home, Niamh sighed. Nothing about this day was at all like she envisaged. Her small posy was made up of lavender and some wildflowers, and her wedding dress was a plain white gown that she had purchased only two days before.

“You look beautiful,” Ada smiled, fixing the veil into Niamh’s hair and stepping back.

Polly nodded her agreement, although it was plain to see the annoyance on her face that this very thing was going ahead. Niamh looked at herself in the mirror and for a second didn’t recognise the girl staring back at her. Her caramel hair which was usually down and flowing in waves around her shoulders was swept back into an elegant braided crown that made her look older than her twenty years, and the light dusting of make up on her face accentuated features that she had always found to be plain and now suddenly seemed anything but.

Somehow she felt that she had woken up this morning as a young girl, and now within the space of hours she had become the woman that society expected of her; the woman that her husband would expect of her. By the end of the afternoon, she would be married to a man she didn’t know and the reality of it was finally setting in.

It was funny really because even last night as she had drifted off to sleep, she hadn’t been nervous. Nor when she got up this morning and began getting ready. It was only now as she stared at herself that she felt butterflies in her stomach and her heart began to thud wildly. She suddenly felt the urge to get up and run as far away and as fast as possible. But before she knew it, she was walking down the stairs towards the small yet ornate dining room that had been set up especially for this day, hanging onto Arthur’s arm for dear life as she concentrated on trying to put one foot in front of the other.

“You sure you want to do this?” Arthur murmured as they paused at the closed door. Inside the faint hum of voices and the strings of a violin playing could be heard. 

The door opened before she could reply and suddenly Niamh Shelby found herself walking towards a very new and uncertain future.


	2. Chapter Two

Alfie Solomons had never entertained the idea of marriage, much to his late mother’s chagrin. That wasn’t to say he didn’t appreciate women. Oh no, he appreciated them alright. When they were writhing underneath him, panting and moaning; when they had their plump lips wrapped around his cock, sucking him off like a lollipop. But marriage? Nah, that was for blokes what were obviously gluttons for punishment. Just look at fucking Ollie. The lad had married his wife when he was twenty one and ten years later, they had about a million kids and Ollie’s weekends consisted of visiting the park and doing jobs around the house. Nah, that weren’t for Alfie. Not that Alfie’s weekends were anything spectacular to be fair, but he enjoyed curling up on the sofa with Cyril and reading in peace and quiet. No nagging wife, no midering kids, no-one to answer to.

So at first when Tommy Shelby has arrived with that arrogant swagger and cocky look in his eyes, suggesting a way to unite the two of them for life, Alfie had scoffed. Him marry a fucking Shelby? Hell would be sure to freeze over first. But then Tommy left, informing Alfie he’d await his answer in the next couple of days, and his brain had begun ticking. It weren’t that he liked Tommy Shelby, but he respected him. He respected the fact that he came from an oppressed people like Alfie himself, and that he had dragged himself up from the shitty pit he had been born into and made himself into somebody who people knew and feared. 

Alfie had mulled the idea over for a long time, well into the early hours of the next morning, weighing up the pros and cons. The biggest con was being related to the Shelbys and knowing that he was tied to them forever, but the pros were rather favourable if he was being honest. Sabini wouldn’t dare give Alfie any trouble again, and it was doubtless anyone else would if they knew what was good for them. Not that Alfie couldn’t handle himself, but in his old age he was getting fed up fighting the same old battles with Sabini and other little whelps who kept trying to muscle in on his territory. In the end, he had agreed to it because, with a smug little grin to himself, he had decided it would be a lot easier to get one over on Tommy Shelby when he expected to have Alfie completely on his side. Yeah, Alfie would have the last fucking laugh, that was certain.

Looking around the room as he stood at the make shift altar, Alfie couldn’t help but feel a slight degree of nervousness. Polly Shelby was eyeballing him like he was the devil incarnate, and he had a feeling she’d worn black to make a point that she was opposed to this union. John and his wife, Esme were trying to keep their brood of nippers quiet- and failing miserably. Ada was sat beside Finn and her own little lad was sat in between the two of them, picking his nose and eating it while his mother just grimaced in disgust. She made no effort to stop him though because the way she saw it, his gross habit was preferable to the noise that her nephews and nieces were making behind her.

“You look nervous, Alfie?” Tommy commented, his eyes crinkled slightly into that insufferable smirk that made Alfie want to punch him.

“Nervous?” Alfie pulled a face. “Nah. What have I got to be nervous about? Well, apart from the fact that your sister might look like a right horse and I’m about to be tied down to her for the rest of my life.”

Alfie’s own eyes twinkled in mirth when he saw momentary rage flash across Tommy’s face. Alfie knew she weren’t ugly this youngest Shelby sister. In fact, the two men he had sent to follow her over the past couple of weeks had been rather adamant that she was rather nice to look at, and Alfie had curtly reminded them that she would soon be his wife and they had better stop lusting over her. But Tommy didn’t need to know that, did he?

“That’s our fucking sister you’re talking about,” John spat the toothpick in his mouth to the ground and stood up.

“That’s what I mean, aint it?” Alfie narrowed his eyes at him. “If she looks a thing like you then I’m fuckin’ screwed. And God help us when we have kids.”

“If you have kids,” John scowled, getting right in Alfie’s face. “If I know my sister, she won’t let you touch her with a fucking bargepole.”

“She won’t exactly have a choice, mate,” Alfie barely even blinked, amused that this little nipper thought he could intimidate him. “Once I’m married to her, it’ll be my husbandly right, won’t it?”

“ _John, leave it. He’s winding you up and you’re taking the bait like a fish on a hook,”_ Tommy spoke and reluctantly John sat back down, not before fixing Alfie with the filthiest glare he could muster.

“That’s it, Johnny boy,” Alfie smirked. “Listen to whatever it is the big man’s telling you, and later on when I’ve got your sister in that bed upstairs, I’ll have her teach me some of the disgustin’ things she’s moanin’ for me in that manky pikey language of yours so I can repeat them to you specially. Alright?”

Alfie had no intention of laying a hand on the girl, but John Shelby didn’t need to know that. In fact, Alfie was debating on changing his mind solely to get at him.

John was seething; the steam was practically coming out of his ears and beside him, Esme murmured in his ear that she would curse the dirty Jew and that he wasn’t worth John’s time. Polly looked to be casting a curse of her own, although to anyone looking on it wasn’t certain whether it was Tommy or Alfie that she was cursing.

The registrar murmured something to Ollie, who along with a handful of his men, was the only person to accompany Alfie on his special day, and it was time for the bride to make her entrance.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

_Don’t trip up. Try not to look like you’re walking to your death. Give Polly a smile on the way past so she knows you’re alright. Try again not to trip over your dress._ These were just some of the thoughts racing through Niamh’s head as she walked down the aisle, clutching onto Arthur’s arm for dear life. Her legs were like jelly and the short aisle seemed to lengthen by the second while she tried to avoid the various faces of her family looking at her. She tried to smile at Polly, but her top lip stuck to her teeth and it came out more like a grimace. And then suddenly, there he was. The man who was to be her husband. Hidden from view beneath her veil, Niamh allowed herself to look at him unabashedly. He wasn’t what she expected; then again she wasn’t sure _what_ she had expected. Certainly not for him to be as handsome as he was, or as young. He wasn’t handsome in the usual sense; not like her brothers for example. He was rugged, with a beard that, while groomed no doubt for today’s occasion, had an almost wild look about it and attempted to conceal up a scar that ran almost along the entire length of one cheek. The scar, if possible, seemed only to add to that manly look he had about him and beneath his moustache, Niamh could make out full lips. The closer she got, she noticed that his eyes were neither blue nor green. They were dark yet light all at the same time, and they watched her shrewdly until she felt the need to look away. Arthur lifted the veil from her face and she could see the anguish in his eyes as he kissed her cheeks.

“I love you, _chavi_ ,” he murmured with a sigh.

“Love you too,” Niamh smiled reassuringly. “ _I’ll be fine, Arthur, I promise.”_

With a curt nod to the groom, Arthur took his seat and tried to tell himself that he hadn’t just led his sister to the slaughter like that fucking goat Solomons had slaughtered in front of his very eyes only a couple of years back.

As the registrar spoke, Niamh was glad to have the posy of flowers clutched tightly in her hands, because it stopped them from shaking and she clenched her jaw in an attempt to stop her teeth chattering with nerves. She could feel Solomons looking at her but she kept her eyes fixed on the spot of wall right behind the registrar’s head and refused to look anywhere else. When the time came to speak their vows and exchange the rings, Ada stepped forward to take Niamh’s flowers, and she wondered just how difficult it would be to flee and never look back. But a large hand encompassed her own, essentially trapping her and she knew that this was it. She repeated her vows in a shaky voice, not really even hearing what she said and what was said back to her. All she could hear was the fuzzy rush of blood in her ears. She didn’t even recall the moment Solomons slid a simple white gold band onto her ring finger. The only thing that jolted her out of the haze she found herself in was the gentle brush of his lips against her cheek before he stepped back from her as quickly as possible.

And that was that. In less than fifteen minutes, Niamh Shelby had become Niamh Solomons.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Alfie couldn’t stop looking at his new wife during the simple, and somewhat awkward, dinner they were forced to sit through. His men hadn’t been lying when they spoke about her, because she absolutely fucking beautiful. She wasn’t pretty in the way most girls were; he couldn’t explain it but there was something very simple yet beguiling about her. She smelt like lavender and something else that he couldn’t quite place, and there was something about her caramel coloured eyes that made him feel like he could see right into her soul. They were the same colour as the whiskey in his glass, but it wasn’t just the colour that made them so enticing, it was just the way they seemed to take everything in.

Alfie found himself wanting to talk to her; to ask her about herself but she looked down at her plate as though she was about to find all of the answers to the universe there and he didn’t disturb her. Besides, her family were watching the pair of them like fucking hawks and it was awkward as hell. There would be plenty of time for talking later when they were alone, and as he shifted in his seat Alfie realised he wanted more than just talking. Fucking hell… what was wrong with him? He never felt like this about a woman, especially not one he had just met. Probably some sort of fucking gypsy magic. And then it hit him. She was new and she was pretty. Alfie liked new toys but he soon got fed up of them and cast them aside. Give it a few days and the novelty of her would wear off and he would soon be done with her. He couldn’t deny though that a part of him considered playing the old marriage consummation card so he could have his wicked way with her and get her out of his system quicker, but for some reason he just knew he couldn’t do it. She was a fucking Shelby for crying out loud, yet she didn’t seem like the rest of them.

After dinner, the Shelbys decided not to pretend that they were all happy about their reason for having gathered together and soon enough they began to retire to their rooms. Everyone would be staying for the night before leaving after breakfast in the morning. If Alfie had his way, he would be gone right that second but the men that accompanied him had been allowed to disappear to the local pub for a few drinks and the company of some local women, and he wouldn’t take that away from them now. Eventually, there was only Alfie and his new wife left downstairs, sitting in the same seats they had sat in all evening and still barely looking at one another.

“I aint much for wine as a rule, but this one aint too terrible,” Alfie muttered in an attempt to make some sort of conversation.

Niamh looked up in surprise when she realised he was talking to her. _Well of course he is, you idiot because you’re the only two people left in the room._

“It’s alright,” she shrugged.

“Yeah, on second thoughts it tastes like crap if I’m bein’ honest. These rich folk don’t have much taste, do they?”

A hint of a smile played at Niamh’s lips as Alfie blatantly mocked the very person who had hosted this wedding dinner for them- at no expense to either party- and she realised that she quite like the way he spoke. He was gruff yet there was an almost animated lilt to his voice that was intriguing.

“I’m not much for drinking, to be honest,” she said.

“Me neither.”

Silence fell once more and the two newlyweds looked away from each other once more. Alfie wracked his brains desperately, trying to think of anything to say. He wasn’t sure why he was so fussed about talking to his new wife but the human brain was a funny thing, wasn’t it? Just as he went to open his mouth and make some nonsensical comment about the depressing painting of a crying nymph on the opposite wall, the girl in front of him turned in her seat to fix him with a stare so piercing that it took him aback momentarily.

“May I ask you a question, Mr Solomons?”

He nodded without hesitation. Christ, in that moment she could have asked him for a million pounds and he would have done the same thing. The make up she wore had faded during the evening, and he was able to now see the light dusting of freckles that had been hidden before. There was something very innocent and endearing about them and he could feel his trousers tightening a little.

“Why did you agree to this? This marriage, I mean?”

“Well,” Alfie cleared his throat and pulled at the collar of his shirt. “It made good business sense, didn’t it?”

“And you don’t feel awkward marrying into a family where you had one of your own brothers in law framed for murder and arrested? Nor do you feel awkward about the fact that you helped the very people who tried to kill my other brother, and not only that but they kidnapped his son as well?”

“No,” he answered without looking away from her. He was unflinching. “Cos I done them things out of necessity, didn’t I? They were necessary things for me to keep the upper hand on your brother and your family, and I aint sorry I did them. I never meant for little Charlie to play a part in any of it cos kids is kids and they don’t count as leverage in my book, but what’s done is done. Aint in my nature to have regrets, and the little lad’s back safe and sound with his family so there was no harm done.”

“No harm done?” Niamh scoffed. “It could have been an entirely different story no thanks to you.”

“Well it weren’t, were it?” Alfie scowled. “And no offence right love, but just cos we’re married now don’t mean you can start givin’ me an earful about things what are in the past cos I couldn’t give a shit what you think if I’m bein’ honest. I don’t expect a little girl like you to understand what happens in a man’s world.”

“You’re an arrogant pig,” Niamh snorted, and then she did something that completely surprised Alfie. If she’d have pulled out a gun and pointed it at his face he would have been less shocked, but as it went she just smiled. A wide, beaming smile that literally could have made angels sing and the little cherubs fly right off the ceiling where they were painted on.

“I aint never had no one call me a pig and then smile at the same time,” Alfie commented, unable to hold back a smile himself. “It’s rather unnervin’ I must say.”

“Alfie Solomons unnerved by a woman?” Niamh teased. “I don’t think I believe that for a minute.”

“Why did _you_ agree to this marriage then?” Alfie asked, completely changing the subject and if Niamh was bothered, she didn’t let on.

“Same reason as you, I suppose,” she shrugged. “Made good business sense for the family.”

“And you didn’t feel awkward about marryin’ the man what had one of your brothers arrested for a murder he didn’t commit, and your other brother’s son kidnapped?” his eyes twinkled playfully as he used her own words against her.

“No,” she shook her head. “Because I knew that if I didn’t marry you, I would regret it. You want to know why? Because I love my family, Mr Solomons and I would do anything to help them including marrying a man who has double crossed them more times than a whore’s washed her fanny.”

Alfie burst out into a guffaw of laughter that was almost a choke. His new wife eyed him with a hint of a grin and he realised that he might have just bitten off more than he could chew with this one. She was a fucking Shelby alright and just like the rest of her family, there was more to Niamh Shelby than met the eye. Only she weren’t a Shelby no more, were she? And he wondered just what being married to her was going to entail.

“What do you expect from this marriage, Mr Solomons?” she asked as though reading his thoughts.

“I aint really thought about it,” he answered. And that was the God’s honest truth. He hadn’t thought anything about it because he hadn’t actually expected to find himself wanting to get to know his new wife.

“Well I have,” she said in a tone that was confident but not arrogant.

“Go on then,” he nodded. “I’m interested to hear what you’ve gotta say.”

“Ok,” Niamh took a deep breath. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life being married to someone who I can’t at least try and get along amicably with. My Dad was a right bastard and treated my mum like the dirt beneath his shoe, and I don’t want that. If you try to hit me, I’ll hit you back; if you shout at me, I’ll shout back, but I’d prefer for you to just leave me alone if it comes to the point where you dislike being around me that much. I know that my family and you haven’t always gotten along that well, and perhaps that won’t change just because we’re now related but we can at least try. And even if it doesn’t work out with the rest of them, then I think at least you and I should try and get along? After all, we’re the ones who will be in the marriage forever, won’t we? So what I’m trying to say in a long winded way is that can we at least try to be friends in some shape or form?”

“I reckon we can manage that,” Alfie nodded, scratching at his beard.

“Ok then,” Niamh smiled with relief. She spat on her palm and held it out to Alfie. “It’s a deal.”

Alfie eyed her outstretched hand with a frown before breaking into a grin. You can give a girl the Solomons name but it turns out that she won’t be rid of her Shelby traits so easily.


	3. Chapter Three

Niamh smoothed down the skirt of her simple taupe dress and fastened shut her overnight bag. The rest of her belongings had been packed up before leaving Birmingham and Tommy had arranged for them to be sent to her new home. She wasn’t sure she would ever think of Camden as home but she was willing to give it a chance. Maybe it was the traveller in her or just the optimist, but she would find Camden’s good qualities and use them to make herself feel as at home as possible. And she would always carry Small Heath with her wherever she went; whether it was in the little scar just underneath her chin where she had tripped over Arthur’s shoes and caught her face on the fireplace or in the piece of roof slate she had snuck into one of her bags just the day before. There was a gentle tap on the door and Niamh looked up to see Alfie stepping through the doorway, his face red and his hair dishevelled. 

  
“You ready?” he asked, eyeing her subtly and thinking that she looked just as beautiful this morning as she had yesterday. “Breakfast’s being served while the cars are loaded up and if you don’t get down the stairs sharpish, that Aunt of yours is gonna have a fit. I’m sure she reckons I’ve murdered you or summit. Givin’ me all this spiel about how I better now have hurt you or I’ll have her to deal with. I mean, I know my reputation, right, but I ain’t the kind of man what goes round layin’ their hands on women. Especially not when said woman’s whole fuckin’ family is right down the hallway.” 

  
“I’m sure she’s just referring to the fact that it was our wedding night and we should have consummated the marriage, and usually for women the first time isn’t always pleasant apparently. And I should imagine even less so with a complete stranger,” Niamh blurted out before she could stop herself. 

  
Alfie Solomons was not a man easily shocked but this slip of a girl had managed to do just that. Well, she was a Shelby after all so what did he expect? Only she wasn’t anymore, was she? Alfie couldn’t help it; he adjusted his trousers as discreetly as possible and tried to think of anything other than the fact that he was now married to someone who looked like she did, and like an absolute plonker he hadn’t attempted to even put one finger on her. Then again, he had been a little bit afraid she might smack him in the face and then he’d have her brothers to answer to. Fucking hell, if he got any harder someone couldn’t literally prop a tent up with his stiff pole and it could survive gale force winds and even a fucking tornado. 

  
“Right,” he nodded awkwardly. “Well, um, that’s... yeah... right well I need to go and make sure Ollie’s not broken the fuckin’ car or anythin’. So you just hurry up and get yourself downstairs for breakfast so we can get back to London alright?”

  
Niamh groaned as the door clicked shut behind Alfie. She slammed her head down on the dressing table and lamented the fact that she was one of those people who just couldn’t think before they spoke. How was she supposed to look him in the face again after casually talking about consummating marriage and how sex felt for women? What did she even know about it?She eyed the window and wondered if she threw herself out of it would the fall kill her or at least make her lose enough of her memory that she wouldn’t be forced to remember this for the rest of her days? Knowing her luck not. Perhaps she could persuade Polly to take pity on her over breakfast and put her down like one would a lame horse? Then again, Polly would probably take great delight in her embarrassment. From now on, Niamh told herself she would think a little more carefully before opening her mouth again.

  
................................................ ................................................ ................................................

  
The car journey was quiet. It wasn’t that it was awkward as such, it was more that the two newlyweds just didn’t know what to say to each other. Perhaps it was the presence of Ollie, who she had learned was Alfie’s right hand man; although if she was being honest, he reminded her more of a boy than a man. Or perhaps it was because she still felt somewhat emotional after saying goodbye to her family, but either way, Niamh found herself unable to speak and instead just stared out of the window, watching as the countryside gradually began to disappear only to be replaced with grey, murky streets that weren’t entirely dissimilar to Birmingham. Niamh swallowed the lump in her throat as she wondered how far away from Small Heath her family were. How was it possible to miss them so much already?

_“If he lays so much as one finger on you, you call me and I’ll be there to smash his lights out,” Arthur said fiercely, hugging Niamh so tight that she almost couldn’t breathe._

_“Niamh would smash his lights out before you could even get in the car,” Polly scoffed, pulling her niece into her own arms. “You know home isn’t going to be the same without you, eh? Promise you’ll come and visit us soon?”_

_“I promise,” Niamh nodded, sniffing back tears._

_“My little sister leaving for the big wide world,” Tommy smiled down at her, cupping her face while his eyes regarded her fondly._

_“It’s only London,” she smiled back. “And I expect you to come and visit me every time you’re down doing business with Alfie. I’ll know if you’ve been.”_

_“I’ll make it my priority to see you, don’t worry about that,” Tommy reassured her. “You know it means a great deal that you did this for me.”_

_“I didn’t just do it for you,” Niamh told him. “I did it for all of us. For our family.”_

_“I love you, Niamh.”_

_“I love you, too.”_

Alfie watched as a single tear rolled down Niamh’s cheek and she wiped it away hastily. She hadn’t spoken for the entire journey, and he hadn’t been able to figure out what was wrong with her until it had suddenly hit him like a lightening bolt. He didn’t know how he hadn’t worked it out before now.

“Stop the car Ollie and get out,” he ordered suddenly.

“Right here?” Ollie frowned.

“Yes, Ollie,” Alfie sighed, thanking Ollie patronisingly when the engine was switched off. “Now get out.”

“And do what?”

“I don’t fuckin’ care,” Alfie pinched the bridge of his nose. “Take a piss; go and buy a pie from the bakery over the road there or just go and pretend to look at somethin’. Whatever you do just get out this car so I can have a word with my wife alone.”

Ollie hurriedly did as he was told while Alfie tried to mull over the fact that using the word wife didn’t bring him out in hives or make him spontaneously combust. In fact it felt rather nice.

“Right, I think we need to have a little talk before we get home,” he spoke to Niamh. “But I need you to actually look at me cos I don’t wanna have this conversation with the back of your head.”

Niamh turned and Alfie could see her eyes were literally brimming with tears, and she was biting down on her bottom lip in an attempt not to cry.

“I’m hopin’, yeah, that the reason you’re cryin’ is cos you’re upset about leavin’ your family and not cos you’re distraught about bein’ married to me,” he said. “And if you are upset about leavin’ your family then I just want you to know that I’ll do everythin’ I can to make this easier for you. You can phone them a hundred times a day if it makes you happy and you can visit as often as you want. I’ll make sure that one of my men will drive you there whenever you want. Well, not like every fuckin’ day but you know what I mean.”

Niamh gave a small smile of amusement.

“There,” Alfie pointed at her. “That right there. That smile is what I wanted to see.”

“I’m sorry,” Niamh apologised, wiping at a few stray tears that had fallen.

“Aint nothin’ to be sorry for,” Alfie answered. “I mean, I reckon it’s only natural, aint it? But if you and I are gonna at least try and be friends of some sort, then I don’t think it’s wrong of me to say that I expect you to tell me when summit upsets you? Granted, I might not always be able to fix it for you, but I’ll certainly try.”

“Thank you,” she smiled.

“Don’t need to thank me,” he shrugged. “Just common decency innit. I mean, I don’t want me wife walkin’ around with a face like a smacked arse otherwise people might think I’m slappin’ you around or summit, and then heaven fuckin’ forbid your brothers or that crazy fuckin’ aunt of yours catch wind of it.”

“Oh, so that’s what this is really about? It’s not so much my happiness that you’re worried about but rather your own safety?”

“That ain’t what I said,” Alfie argued, wondering how she had managed to turn it around like that.

“I’m teasing you, Alfie,” Niamh smirked, her eyes twinkling playfully.

“Cheeky bugger,” Alfie narrowed his eyes but even he couldn’t hide his own grin. “But I meant what I said, yeah? I really hope you’ll tell me whenever somethin’ is botherin’ you because I’ll always try and make it better; and not just cos I don’t want shit off your family.”

“Noted,” Niamh nodded. “And just so you know, the same goes for you.”

“Don’t have to worry about me,” Alfie muttered.

But Niamh didn’t believe him for a minute. If Alfie was anything like her brothers, even he found himself in need of a friendly ear and some affection at times. She doubted that Alfie was going to be any different, and she couldn’t lie; the thought of being wrapped in those strong arms made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. How was it possible to have thoughts like this about a man she barely knew, and a man who really she shouldn’t actually like given how much he had put her family through? She told herself that it was just a pathetic attempt at giving herself comfort and feeling as though she wasn’t quite so alone in this strange town, but in truth she knew she hopelessly attracted to Alfie Solomons.

................................................ ................................................ …………………………………………

Alfie’s house was beautiful and nothing at all like her own home back in Small Heath. For a start, the road it was set upon was undoubtedly in a well to do area because Niamh had never seen houses so big belonging to ordinary people before in all her life. It even had a gate which opened out into a small front garden and steps that led up to the shiny black front door. Ollie unloaded the bags before rushing off hurriedly back to his own house on the other side of Camden, leaving Alfie and Niamh alone.

Well… not exactly alone.

“This daft mutt here is Cyril,” Alfie grinned, scratching the huge dog behind the ears. “He looks like a beast but he’s really about as scary as a teddy bear, aint ya mate?”

Niamh knelt down to let the dog sniff at her and when he suddenly lurched forward and started licking at her face, she giggled happily. She had always wanted a dog, but Polly had always flat out refused, proclaiming they were dirty things that pissed and shit everywhere, and they had enough of that with the amount of men in their family. And of course, Polly’s word was always final when it came to anything regarding the house.

“Cyril, come here,” Alfie ordered, and immediately the dog obeyed his master. “He’ll lick you to death if you let him. Anyway, if you’ve had enough of bein’ slobbered all over, I can show you around now?”

“Sure,” Niamh nodded, standing and brushing the dog fur from the skirt of her dress.

“Right, well we’ll start downstairs first, yeah?”

Niamh followed Alfie around the entire downstairs of the house and she immediately noticed one thing. Alfie was untidy. Not dirty, just untidy. There were all sorts of ornaments, books and bits and bobs dotted around the living room, the study and the dining room; none of which were matching or seemed to really belong where they were. It was as though he had just dumped them in an empty spot. It wasn’t horrible though, it was…very Alfie.

The upstairs was rather different. Niamh got the impression that Alfie didn’t spend much time up there because every room she had seen so far lacked any of the personal artefacts she had noticed downstairs. Then again, according to Alfie there were five bedrooms in total and she supposed even Alfie might struggle to put his own personal touch in each one.

“So just across there is my room,” Alfie pointed. “And I thought you might like this room? It’s got a nice view of the back garden”

Niamh frowned. The room was beautiful, but for some completely unknown reason she felt hurt. Rejected almost. She had been married for one day and already her husband had basically cast her aside to live her own little existence.

“Do you not like it?” Alfie asked, seeing the way her brows were furrowed. “You can always take one of the other rooms if this one aint to your taste? Or I mean, you can have it decorated however you’d like if it’s the furnishings that are the problem.”

“No,” she answered quickly. “The room’s lovely, truly it is. It’s just that… well… I didn’t expect to have my own room.”

“You didn’t?” it was Alfie’s turn to frown. “Where else did you think you would be sleepin’?”

“I kind of assumed that I’d be in your room,” she mumbled, her cheeks flushing red.

“Oh,” Alfie seemed genuinely shocked by her answer. “Why would you think that?”

“Because isn’t that usually what married people do?”

“Well yeah, but usually they’re people what are actually married cos they’re attracted to each other and chose to be married and-“ Alfie knew by the look on Niamh’s face that he had said the wrong thing. Him and his big fucking mouth. “What I mean is that we barely know each other and I don’t want you to feel even more uncomfortable or even nervous of my intentions, so I just thought that you’d prefer havin’ your own bedroom.”

“I see,” Niamh mumbled.

“I mean, if you’re really bothered then we can make alternative arrangements or-“

“-No, this is fine,” she forced a smile upon her face, but even Alfie who hadn’t known her for longer than twenty four hours could see that it wasn’t genuine. “You know, I’m feeling a little tired from the journey. I think I’d like to go and lie down if you don’t mind?”

“Course not,” Alfie agreed. “I’ll send for you when lunch is ready shall I?”

“I’m not particularly hungry really,” Niamh lied.

“Alright then,” Alfie nodded awkwardly. “Well, you just come down whenever you feel ready. Sleep well.”

Niamh watched Alfie walk down the hallway, his heavy footsteps thumping loudly as Cyril followed him like a shadow, and she wanted to cry. Why did it matter whether or not he found her attractive? They had both agreed to hope for nothing more than friendship in this marriage, so why should she be upset that friends were all they would ever be? She knew she wasn’t beautiful like Ada, or exotic looking like Esme, but a very small part of her hoped that Alfie might have seen something pleasant in her, because as much as it pained to admit her so soon, she saw many pleasant things in him.

With a sigh, she closed the bedroom door and flung herself on the bed like a petulant child. She wished with all of her heart that she could go back home to Small Heath already.But some wishes would just never come true.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so so much to everyone who has been reading, leaving comments/kudos! It means a lot!

Things between Alfie and Niamh remained somewhat strained over the next few weeks, and this wasn’t how Niamh had ever envisaged marriage life being. Then again, she had never envisaged being married to a man she didn’t know either. Alfie had questioned her a few times, reminding her of his promise to always do his best to help her be happy, but Niamh has refused to give him even a hint as to what was bothering her so he gave up. It wasn’t that they argued or refused to talk to one another, it was more than the easy discussion they’d had on their wedding night was now a distant memory, replaced with tension and polite smiles. Niamh so desperately wanted to tell Alfie what was bothering her, but she was far too embarrassed. How to tell him that she was hurt that the man she barely knew didn’t want to share a bed with his own wife? How to tell him that even though they were practical strangers, she wanted them to act as a married couple? No, if her aunt Polly had taught her anything, it was at least how to have a little dignity when it came to men.

  
It was Thursday night and the Solomons had been invited to have dinner with Ollie and his family. Alfie had wondered if perhaps Niamh’s mood was down to loneliness due to him being at work all day and her back at the house on her own. Ollie’s wife, Karina, was a warm and amiable woman who would be able to make friends with anyone and Alfie was certain Niamh would like her. 

  
“I was about to warn you that Ollie’s kids are a right noisy bunch but then I remembered that you’ve got about a million nephews and nieces so this’ll be nothin’ to you,” Alfie commented as the car pulled up outside Ollie’s modest house that reminded Niamh very much of her own home back in Small Heath. 

  
“Are they all boys?” she asked.

  
“Yeah,” Alfie nodded. “Ollie Jr is five, Abraham is almost three and the baby, Joshua, is only a couple of months old. Little devils they are but quite sweet in their own way I suppose.” 

  
Niamh could tell by the glint in Alfie’s eyes that despite saying otherwise he quite clearly was very fond of the young children, and she found herself wondering how he would react to their own children one day. But then her heart sunk because as naive as she was when it came to _that_ , even she knew how babies were made and given that she and Alfie hadn’t even attempted _that_ meant there was no chance of any babies.

The door swung open before Alfie and Niamh had even made it more than halfway up the path and two little boys came running out excitedly screaming for Alfie.

“Hello boys,” he smiled, patting the oldest one’s hair and scooping the other one up in his arms, where the little boy pulled at Alfie’s beard playfully. “One day right, Abe, when you’re a big boy I’m gonna tug your beard until you cry and then you won’t find it so funny anymore.”

“His name’s Abraham, not Abe,” a woman spoke from the door. She was tall and slender, and wisps of black hair peeked out from beneath the scarf she wore on her head.

“Sorry, Karina,” Alfie apologised contritely. “But you do know when he goes to school he’s gonna get called Abs and Abe and God knows what else, so you may as well get used to it now.”

“That’s a long way off yet, Alfie,” Karina narrowed her eyes at him though her lips twitched with humour. “Now are you gonna introduce me to your wife? No, of course you’re not so I’ll just do it myself. You must be Niamh? I’m Karina; it’s so nice to meet you. Finally.”

Alfie rolled his eyes at the raised eyebrow Karina gave him when she uttered the last word, but he knew better than to argue. Jewish women were formidable, each and every one of them and he knew which side his bread was buttered so he kept schtum.

“Hello,” Niamh smiled shyly, glancing back at Alfie for help as she was all but dragged into the house by Ollie’s wife.

“Ollie, they’re here,” Karina called out as she led Niamh into the living room while Alfie followed suit with the boys.

“Niamh,” Ollie smiled, standing up to greet her, a sleeping baby Joshua nestled in his arms. “How are you?”

“Well thank you,” she answered politely. She had seen Ollie a few times since the wedding, and he was always nice enough. “It’s lovely of you to invite us for dinner.”

“I would have invited you sooner if the boys had pulled their fingers out and actually arranged a day,” Karina commented, taking Abraham from Alfie’s arms and popping him down on the floor next to his toy train set. “Ollie, give the baby to Alfie and go and finish setting the table while I serve up dinner.”

“Yes dear,” Ollie answered, and Alfie snorted at just how much Ollie was under his missus’ thumb. The bloody woman could tell him to jump and he’d ask how high without question.

“Now this is how I like them,” Alfie grinned as little Joshua was placed in his waiting arms. “Nice and quiet, just sleepin’.”

“Ha, I wish that’s how he was,” Karina commented from the kitchen. “He’s had me awake the last three nights for hours on end.”

“He’s just colicky,” Ollie explained.

“No he’s clingy because you insist on holding him all the time,” Karina argued. “And now I have to try and get all the housework done every day while holding him because otherwise he screams the place down.”

Ollie grimaced guiltily. Karina did have a point, he knew that. He would come home from work and hold baby Joshua for hours and hours because he missed him so much. He had done the same with the older two when they were babies but it had never backfired on him this way before.

“I best go and finish sorting the table out before she bollocks me for that as well,” he murmured.

“I heard that!”

……………… ……………… ……………… ……………… ……………… ………………

Dinner was a lively affair to say the least. Alfie had the two older boys in stitches with silly stories about their father, and at one point Ollie Jr laughed so hard he started to choke on his food. Karina had warned all of the males at the table to behave or else they would not be having any apple crumble and custard for pudding, which made them all cease their antics rather quickly. After dinner, Niamh offered to help Karina clean up the dishes but their host would hear nothing about it and instead dragged her husband into the kitchen to help. Alfie was dragged into the garden with Ollie Jr while Niamh played trains with Abraham, who seemed to have taken a little bit of a liking to her.

“You have blue twain,” he ordered. “My got gween twain. Choo choo!”

“Choo choo,” Niamh echoed with a smile. “I think your train is going much faster than mine, isn’t it? It’s a super speedy train.”

“Speedy twain,” Abraham repeated with a giggle as he drove his train along the carpet as fast as he could.

From the bassinet in the corner of the living room came a little gurgle followed by a whine and Abraham ran over with a frown.

“My baby cwy,” he pouted as little Joshua began to sob. “Ssh baby.”

Niamh walked over to the bassinet herself and stroked the baby’s head in an attempt to soothe him. He seemed to settle for a moment before letting out a little cough and beginning to cry even more. Without thinking, Niamh picked him up and cradled him against her chest as she’d done with Finn when he was a baby, not to mention all of John’s children. By the time his third child came, and Ada had Karl, Niamh was a pro with babies.

“Oh dear,” she muttered against the baby’s cheek as she bounced him up and down gently. “Don’t cry little one. There, there, it’s alright.”

“I thought I heard him crying,” Karina suddenly appeared with a tea towel in her wet hands.

“Oh,” Niamh gasped, startled. “I hope you didn’t mind me picking him up but you were busy and I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“Of course not,” Karina scoffed. “I’d have minded more if you left him there to cry.”

“Mumma, my baby cwy but now he happy,” Abraham informed his mother.

“I know, Aunty Niamh made him stop crying,” Karina smiled at her son before giving Niamh a wry grin at her look of shock at being called aunty. “Well Alfie’s their uncle so it only makes sense, doesn’t it?”

“Aunty Niamh?” Abraham frowned.

“Yes lovely,” Karina nodded. “Aunty Niamh is married to Uncle Alfie.”

“My Uncie Alfie?”

“That’s right, sweetheart.”

“My want mawwy aunty Niamh,” Abraham suddenly decided.

“You’ll have to fight Uncle Alfie for her,” Karina chuckled.

“I’m certain he’d give me up easily,” Niamh muttered without thinking.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Karina said with a knowing look. “Listen, marriage is hard for everyone, let alone for two complete strangers. I’ve known Ollie my entire life and I was five when I told him he was going to marry me one day, but even so once we actually lived together I thought I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. The only thing that got us through those first few months was that we loved each other, so give yourself a little break.”

“I know but…” Niamh sighed. She wanted to tell Karina everything but they had only just met and it wasn’t really appropriate.

“Niamh,” Karina smiled kindly. “Once you’re my friend, you’re stuck with me so you may as well just get it all out now otherwise I’ll force you to tell me another time.”

Niamh couldn’t help but smile back and suddenly everything she had been holding inside of her came spewing out like lava from a volcano. When she was done, Karina put a hand on her shoulder and sighed.

“Sounds to me like the pair of you need have a good talk,” she said. “But even if you don’t feel brave enough right now, then let me just give you a little piece of advice, yeah? Be patient. With yourself and with Alfie. Give yourselves some time to adjust and get used to each other, and then talking about your feelings will just happen.”

Niamh nodded and smiled gratefully, but before either woman could say anything else, Alfie and Ollie Jr came bursting through the back door, pretending to be pirates. Chaos ensued once more as Abraham decided he too wanted to play, and Karina went back to the dishes while Niamh watched the boys with little Joshua now fast asleep in her arms.

……………… ……………… ……………… ……………… ……………… ………………

“I hope dinner weren’t too traumatisin’ for you?” Alfie sat down on the sofa with an exhausted grunt.

They were back home with enough food in leftovers from Karina to feed them for days. It was getting late and Niamh felt pleasantly tired, but she wasn’t quite ready to sleep just yet.

“I enjoyed myself,” she answered honestly. “The children are sweet and Karina is lovely. She mentioned something about afternoon tea with some of the other ladies she knows one day next week.”

“Oh yeah? That’ll be nice then,” Alfie murmured. “Although they’ll be cluckin’ around like hens after a warm. They’ll wanna know every little thing about you. They won’t leave you alone, I guarantee.”

“I think I’ll survive,” Niamh smirked, sitting down beside Alfie and kicking her shoes off with a sigh.

She closed her eyes and leaned her head briefly against the back of the sofa, giving Alfie the opportunity to look at her unabashedly. She really was beautiful and his fingers ached to trace the outline of her full lips and her sweet button nose. Sometimes, he would go into the bathroom after she had been in there and he would just inhale the scent of lavender, allowing it to calm him. He didn’t want this awkwardness between them; he wanted things to go back to the way they had been on their wedding day. Care free and easy; an unspoken desire that this could be more than just friendship.

“Niamh,” he spoke quietly.

“Yeah?” she opened her eyes and turned to look at him.

“I… are you…I mean… are we…” Alfie stopped speaking because words were failing him. All he could concentrate on was Niamh’s eyes and the way they drew him in. Her tongue darted out to lick at her dry lips and his eyes fell upon them hungrily. His hand moved involuntarily to brush her hair back from her face and he heard her breath hitch when he stroked her cheek gently. Leaning forward, Niamh’s eyes fluttered as his face neared her own and she could feel his warm breath against her skin.

_Ring ring! Ring ring!_

At the shrill ringing of the telephone, just like the spell was broken. With a look of disappointment Alfie eyed the telephone and sighed. His disappointment was nothing compared to Niamh’s and when Alfie stood to answer it reluctantly, Niamh decided to take herself off to bed.


	5. Chapter Five

_Three days later_

Niamh woke with a start and wondered if she had been dreaming. Darkness cloaked her bedroom, barely even a hint of moonlight coming through the open crack in the thick curtains. She sat up when she heard the noise that had awoken her again. It sounded like it was coming from Alfie’s room. Concern filling her, Niamh climbed out of bed, dragging on her dressing gown to fend of the cool chill in the air and padded across the hallway. Pausing outside Alfie’s door, she heard it once more.

“Alfie?” she rapped on the door gently. “Alfie, are you alright?”

There was no answer but she could hear the ruffling of the bedsheets and incoherent mumbling. Chewing on her lip with decision, Niamh eventually gave in and pushed open the door. The sound of pain that left Alfie’s mouth coupled with the pure anguish on his face was enough to physically hurt Niamh’s heart. She tried calling out to Alfie again but he continued to flail and murmur, his brow furrowed as his dreams played out a scenario that obviously was uncomfortable for him. With a gentle hand, Niamh tried to shake him awake and she gasped when he suddenly sat up and wrestled her to the floor where his hands wrapped themselves around her throat. Niamh clawed desperately at Alfie’s hands and kicked her legs wildly in an attempt to get him off of her, but his heavy frame easily overpowered her until white stars danced in front of her eyes. Alfie’s own eyes were open and looking at her but they were vacant. The lights were on but nobody was at home and Niamh was terrified that he was going to kill her without even knowing it. Just when she thought she was going to pass out, Alfie blinked and let go of her as though she was scalding hot. Flinging himself in the corner of the room, he cowered like a frightened animal and despite her own fear, Niamh crawled towards him.

“Alfie,” she croaked, her voice strained and sore.

“Go away,” he muttered, turning his head away from her.

“Alfie please,” she whispered, reaching for his face and forcing him to look at her.

He squeezed his eyes shut as Niamh’s thumbs brushed against his cheeks tenderly and he wanted nothing more than to lean into her embrace. Opening his eyes, they flickered down to her neck and his heart lurched when he saw the already bruising imprints of his fingers marring her clear skin. He lifted his hand to touch them and Niamh flinched ever so slightly, but enough for him to notice.

“I’m sorry,” his voice cracked.

“It’s alright,” Niamh reassured him, giving a wobbly smile. “It was an accident. It was my fault for trying to wake you up.”

“I could have killed you.”

“But you didn’t,” Niamh answered. “You didn’t. But you know, if being married to me is that bad Alfie you could just ask for a divorce, you don’t have to kill me.”

That drew a reluctant bark of laughter from Alfie and Niamh impulsively leaned forward to kiss his cheek. Pulling back, she stood and held her hand out to help Alfie up. Without saying another word, she disappeared downstairs as quickly as she could, returning a few moments later with a cold glass of water that she handed to Alfie with a smile. He sat on the bed, lifting the drink to his mouth with a trembling hand and downed the whole thing. Lingering by the door, Niamh was about to bid him good night when he spoke.

“I was back in the trenches.”

Walking back over to the bed, Niamh sat down beside him and took his hand. She didn’t speak; there was nothing to say. Usually when a person was upset, they could be reassured and soothed when the other person expressed that they understood how their situation felt, but Niamh would never ever understand this. No matter the hours she had spent sitting just like this with Arthur or Tommy, even sometimes John, while they battled nameless and faceless enemies who now only existed in their memories yet haunted them from beyond the grave. They had spoken to her a little of the things they had seen and experienced, but she know that the worst things they held back; both because they thought her too delicate to hear such horror but also because to speak of things that were still too raw was impossible.

“There was this one night,” Alfie murmured, his eyes looking forward seeing something that Niamh couldn’t. “We were asleep and the lad what was meant to be on lookout nodded off as well. He was only a fuckin’ kid, freezin’ cold and starvin’ like the rest of us, but the Germans took the opportunity to sneak across the line and into our trenches. They never shot, would have been too noisy, so they fixed their bayonets and I dunno why I woke up but I did. I opened my eyes just as he was about to skewer me. I can still see the look in his eyes; the fuckin’ hatred in them and you know what? I don’t even think the hatred was directed at me, it was directed at himself, and I understood it, you know. Cos afterwards when I’d wrestled the gun off of and stabbed him with his own bayonet, I felt that hatred in myself as well. Fuckin’ crazy aint it? Crazy to hate yourself for killin’ a bloke what tried to kill me first. Only this weren’t like me and the fuckin’ Italians, or me and your brothers in the past, this was different. This was two young kids away from their families and lives fightin’ for their countries cos that’s what was expected. There’s no honour in killin’ a man what aint truly your enemy.”

A tear rolled down Niamh’s cheek. Not just for Alfie but for all of them. The boys who went to war and came back men before they were ready to. She often thought that it was a fate worse than those who had lost their lives. At least those souls slept in peace now beneath fields of poppies that grew crimson like blood.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Alfie’s voice was thick with emotion and his hand clutched hers as though he never wanted to let go.

“You didn’t. I’m upset _for_ you but not because of you,” she said. “Does that even make sense?”

“I aint worth bein’ upset for, love.”

“I think you’re worth it,” Niamh told him, her eyes searching his for something that she didn’t even know.

Alfie’s lips were against hers in a butterfly of a kiss before she even realised it, and when he pulled back to look at her she leaned forwards and joined them back together. Alfie’s free hand cupped her face, tilting it backwards as he deepened the kiss and ran his tongue gently across her lips. When a mewl left Niamh’s mouth, Alfie groaned and pushed his tongue inside flicking against her own. When they finally broke apart again they were both gasping for breath, and Niamh put a shaking hand to her lips as she tried to process their unexpected kiss.

“I’m sorry, that was out of line,” Alfie apologised.

“You’re my husband,” Niamh murmured.

“Yeah but that don’t mean I can treat you like a piece of meat, especially not when things have been so off with us the past few weeks,” Alfie ran a hand over his face in exasperation. “I aint a soppy bastard or anythin’ like that and I never expected to be marryin’ someone I actually liked when I agreed to this deal with your brother. But then that first night when we was chattin’ I realised that I meant what I said when I agreed to us tryin’ to be at least friends. But then we came back here and everythin’ between us just aint been right, and I expect that it’s cos you’ve finally realised that you don’t like me or maybe you’re just missin’ home or somethin’ but I would help make you happy if you let me.”

“I know,” Niamh sighed. “It’s just… it’s stupid really.”

“If it’s makin’ you upset then it aint stupid,” Alfie argued. “And I’d really like you to tell me.”

“I want to but I’m too embarrassed.”

“Right when I was eighteen, I pissed my pants walkin’ home from the pub cos I was so drunk that I didn’t even realise I needed to go for a wee. I pissed myself right in front of the girl I was walkin’ home, who just happened to be a girl I fancied quite a lot.”

“Pardon?” Niamh frowned.

“You said you were too embarrassed to tell me, so I thought if I told you summit really embarrasin’ that I’ve never told anyone then you wouldn’t feel worried to tell me whatever it is you don’t wanna tell me.”

“Oh,” Niamh grinned. “I suppose your story is an awful lot more embarrassing than what I was going to say.”

“Well go on and tell me then,” Alfie urged her.

“Ok,” Niamh nodded, taking a deep breath for courage. _Just spit it out. Just say it. What’s the worst that can happen?_ “I… The reason I’ve been not acting myself is because I had got into my head that you didn’t like me.”

“What the fuck gave you that idea?” Alfie frowned.

“Well, it’s… I presumed that because we were married we would, um, share a room and when you told me to choose my own room it hurt, and I don’t even know why. And I’ve said that out loud I’ve realised just how pathetic it sounds.”

“Let me get this right; for the last few weeks you’ve been mopin’ around the house all because I gave you your own room?”

Niamh grimaced and wished the ground could just swallow her up because she was truly an idiot. She buried her face in her hands and groaned.

“Niamh,” Alfie took her hands gently and moved them away from her face so he could peer at her. She pulled a face that crinkled her nose and made her eyes squint as she waited nervously for whatever he was about to say. Grinning suddenly, Alfie let out a chortle. “I gave you your own room cos I was tryin’ to do the decent thing. I know I’m a fuckin’ monster but even I was taught how to respect women. You wanna sleep in here with me, then go for it, love.”

“So it wasn’t that you don’t like me?”

“No you daft cow,” Alfie rolled his eyes. “If I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t care about whether you was happy or not, would I? If I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t have kissed you just now. Nor would I have been tryin’ my hardest not to kiss you every day since we got married.”

Niamh blinked because she wasn’t certain she was hearing things correctly. Alfie liked her. He liked her not just because he was forced to out of necessity. She suddenly felt all giddy; a bit like Ada when she used to moon over Freddie back in the day and drive them all mad. This wasn’t real, surely. She was having feelings for a man she didn’t really know; a man who had double crossed her family on more than one occasion. But this man was her husband and would be until the end of her days, so was it really so wrong?

“Maybe I should have had one of my little nighttime episodes a couple of weeks back then we could have avoided all this tiptoeing around each other like idiots, eh?” Alfie smirked. “Or you could have just told me the truth when I asked you what was botherin’ you. To think I even arranged for your brother to pay you a visit after he’s been to see me at the bakery tomorrow.”

“What? Tommy’s coming here?”

“Yeah,” Alfie nodded. “Told him I needed to him to come up and sign some documents but they could have waited until my meetin’ with him in a fortnight. I just said I needed them done urgent to get him up here without him thinkin’ I’ve been makin’ your life a livin’ hell the last few weeks. Thought it would cheer you up, but looks like I was completely barkin’ up the wrong fuckin’ tree and now I’ve gotta see your brother’s smug fuckin’ face for nothin’.”

“I can’t believe you did that for me!” Niamh exclaimed, throwing her arms around Alfie and hugging him tightly. She was missing her family so much and just the opportunity to see even one of them meant the world to her. Combined with the fact that she and Alfie seemed to have ironed out the one big crease between them made her feel like things were finally starting to look up.

She smiled up at Alfie, and suddenly feeling emboldened by the look in his eyes she leaned forward and kissed him. Before she could pull back, Alfie pulled her onto his lap and kissed her in such a way that she her lower stomach began to ache, but not in an unpleasant way. Subconsciously she ground herself against him and when she felt something hard against her centre, she knew what it was and strangely she didn’t feel afraid or even embarrassed.

“Alfie,” she whispered, breaking away from him. “I want you to touch me.”

“Niamh,” Alfie murmured. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to; of course he fucking did, but they had just sorted things out and he didn’t want to drive another wedge between them. Sharing a bed together was one thing, but this was something altogether different. This would change things permanently.

“Please,” Niamh bit her lip as she took one of his hands and placed it on her thigh, where her dressing gown had ridden up and he could feel her soft skin.

Alfie swallowed thickly as his hand traced up her thigh, disappearing beneath her dressing gown. He was only a man after all, wasn’t he?


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut time :)

The birds were tweeting outside the window as daylight crept through a crack in the curtains, and for the first time in as long as he could remember Alfie had no desire to get his hand gun out of the bedside table and shoot the blasted rodents with wings for waking him up. For once he was glad to be awake because he wanted to spend the entire day staring down at the beautiful woman in his arms. His fingers lightly traced the freckles on her scrunched up nose and he chuckled to himself when she batted his hand away in her sleep.

“Piss off, Finn,” she muttered, frowning in annoyance.

“Fuckin’ hell, one night in bed together and she’s already callin’ out other men’s names,” Alfie snorted, grinning when Niamh cracked open an eye and pouted.

“What time is it?” she croaked.

“About half six,” he answered, smiling down at her softly; an expression he didn’t even know he possessed until last night.

“Why the hell are you awake?” she groaned, grabbing a pillow and covering her face with it.

“Oh, is somebody not a mornin’ person?” Alfie smirked, earning him a middle finger in return. “And not a very ladylike one either.”

The covers had slipped slightly when she put the pillow over her face and Alfie’s eyes fell upon her full round breasts with pink nipples that strained in the cold morning air. His cock hardened as he remembered the feel of them against his chest when they had finally consummated their marriage the night before, and the way they had tasted in his mouth. He closed his eyes and groaned to himself as he thought about the sweet little sounds she had made when he had given her her first ever orgasm.

“What’s wrong?” she peered out at him in concern.

“Nothing,” he cleared his throat, hoping she wouldn’t notice the way the sheet was tenting around his groin.

“You sounded like you were in pain.”

“Nah, I’m fine,” he ran a hand across his mouth, swallowing as he tried his best not to stare at her semi naked body and failing miserably.

Niamh frowned, following his gaze and blushing furiously when she realised the quilt had slipped.

“Sorry,” she grimaced, pulling it back up hurriedly.

“No _I’m_ sorry for makin’ you feel uncomfortable leerin’ at you like that,” Alfie apologised genuinely.

“You were hardly leering,” she gave a small awkward smile. “I mean I literally had it all out on show so it wasn’t really your fault.”

“True,” Alfie chuckled. “But you don’t have to feel ashamed of your nakedness around me, Niamh. After last night it’s not like I aint seen it all and touched it all.”

“I know,” she looked down, blushing even more. “But I suppose it’s different in the light of day, isn’t it? Like in the dark it didn’t seem as… well, I don’t know. It just seemed easier because you couldn’t really see me properly and I just… I have lumps and bumps and scars and I suppose I’m not what you would describe as perfect.”

“And thank God for that,” Alfie lifted her face by the chin. “People what are perfect on the outside are just hidin’ their faults on the inside, and as for the things you deem as imperfect, trust me when I say I don’t see them that way. I think you’re beautiful the way you are and the reason I couldn’t take my eyes off of you just then was because all I could think about was last night and how good it felt.”

“I think you’re beautiful too,” Niamh murmured. “I know people say men can’t be beautiful but you are to me.”

Alfie didn’t say anything else; he just leaned forward and planted a kiss upon her lips, entangling his hand in her hair as he pushed his tongue inside of her mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down towards her and they both groaned as the quilt fell once more and their bare chests pressed against each other. Alfie’s hand was beneath the bed sheet, sliding up Niamh’s leg squeezing at her thigh before he rubbed his fingers against her centre. She squirmed as he circled her clit slowly and she breathed an anguished moan into his mouth when he plunged a finger inside of her.

“Did I hurt you?” he tore his mouth from hers and peered down at her in genuine concern.

“No, I’m just a little bit sore still,” she answered, reaching for him when he went to move his hand. “Please don’t stop, Alfie.”

The way she said his name and peered up at him through those long lashes was Alfie’s undoing. He hated the thought of hurting her further but he couldn’t deny her in that moment. He bent down and finally took one of her rosy nipples into his mouth, suckling at it while his fingers resumed their gentle exploration of her soaking wet centre. He curled two fingers inside of her, feeling her stretching and taking his digits while his thumb pressed against her clit, moving in the gentlest of circles that soon had her thighs quivering intensely.

“Alfie,” she hummed when his fingers left her only to be replaced with his lips.

He used his hands to open her up so he could draw her nether lips into his mouth one at a time, pulling and suckling before plunging his tongue inside of her. He groaned against her when he felt her hands creep into his hair and clutch desperately as she began to wriggle her hips in an attempt to reach her release. Pushing his fingers inside of her again, moving them in an undulating motion, he suckled on her clit relentlessly until her thighs squeezed shut around his head and she came against his mouth. Alfie didn’t even give Niamh the chance to recover from her orgasm before he pushed himself inside her slowly, filling her to the hilt as his hands roamed her body.

“Fuck,” he hissed when she leaned up slightly to nip at his neck.

Holding onto the headboard for support with one hand, he began to move slowly while he lifted one of her legs to wrap around his hip. Her eyes were closed and her face was a mirror image of the exquisite agony Alfie himself felt. He could already feel his impending orgasm tingling in his balls and he slowed his pace down even more in attempt to delay it.

“Alfie,” Niamh breathed, opening her eyes to look at him with such wonder that he felt like God himself. She closed her eyes and threw back her head briefly as he hit that spongy spot inside her.

“Open your eyes and look at me, Niamh,” he ordered gently, nipping at her lips briefly when she acquiesced immediately.

Satisfied with her compliance, his eyes held hers with fierce intensity as he reached down to her clit once more, pressing hard then soft, sending her crazy with his uneven rhythm. All the while his eyes didn’t leave hers and when she came again, he held her face with his free hand, forcing her to keep looking at him as she rode the waves of her orgasm. The look in her eyes and the gentle domination she allowed him to hold over her was enough to tip Alfie over the edge and when he spilled into her, he actually felt like it was never going to stop.

“Fucking hell,” Niamh breathed drawing a chuckle from Alfie who had collapsed against her neck.

“You can say that again,” he snorted before looking up at her with a grin.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

A man who could actually cook was a rarity in Niamh’s life. Not a single one of her brothers could cook anything apart from a piece of toast, and even then they usually ended up burning it. Alfie it seemed was at home in the kitchen and when he set down some warm pastries fresh out of the oven, Niamh felt her mouth begin to water as the smell of cinnamon wafted up her nose.

“Right, the twisty ones are cinnamon and nutmeg and the plaited ones have got marmalade inside them,” Alfie announced pulling up a seat at the table beside her. “What? Why you lookin’ at me like that?”

“I’ve never met a man who could bake before,” she admitted with a wry smile. “What does a gangster know about baking?”

“A gangster who uses a bakery to front his business, as well as one who grew up as the only child of a very Jewish mother, knows a lot about bakin’,” he grinned, grabbing one of the cinnamon buns and taking a huge bite.

Niamh reached for the same one and closed her eyes in delight when the spices assaulted her tongue in the most delicious way. This man was a God she was certain of it. Opening her eyes, Alfie began to tell her all about how he had come to acquire the bakery and Niamh allowed herself the opportunity to just look at him without shame. He was truly a very handsome man yet in a way so different from her brothers, who were always well dressed and well groomed. Alfie wasn’t scruffy exactly, he was just…well, he had a ruggedness about him that sent her stomach all funny whenever she looked at him. It wasn’t just his face that drew him to her, it was his very essence. They were just something in the way he held himself that was strong and formidable, but then she looked at his hands and forearms, peering out from beneath his shirt sleeves which were rolled up at the elbows and they made her feel safe. They made her wish they could be wrapped around her always.

“You aint a bad cook yourself though,” Alfie said, breaking her from her thoughts. “That stew what you made the other night was a right corker.”

“Yeah but I can’t bake,” she admitted with a smile. “I mean, I can make scones and a plain sponge if I have to but I wouldn’t be able to rustle up anything like this, especially not in the way you just did without even a recipe book in front of you.”

“Recipe book’s in here, innit?” Alfie tapped the side of his head. “And besides, I’ll bet you can do anything you put your mind to.”

“I used to think that,” Niamh smirked. “I once got it into my head that if I built myself a pair of wings big enough, I’d be able to fly like a bird. I spent days in my Uncle Charlie’s yard glueing goose feathers onto my homemade wings. I think he and my brothers all thought it was funny until I snuck out at sunrise one morning and jumped off the roof of our house with my wings attached to my arms.”

“Oh yeah?” Alfie chuckled. “And how’d that work out for you?”

“Not too well. Ended up breaking both my legs and knocking myself unconscious,” she burst out laughing when Alfie started to guffaw and almost choke on his pastry. Niamh took Alfie’s hand and pressed his fingers to a small lump at the back of her head. “That’s where I split my head open and had to have it stitched up in hospital.”

“Sounds to me like you were a right tearaway,” Alfie grinned.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Niamh grinned back. “When we used to go travelling with some of my cousins during summer, we got up to all sorts of mischief. Arthur and Tommy used to despair of me because I was always coming back with cuts and bruises from doing things I shouldn’t have been. I think the worst time though was when two of my older cousins decided to break into this old house in the middle of nowhere and they told me I couldn’t come. Apparently it wasn’t a place for girls to go and the eight year old me just wouldn’t stand for that. I followed them and snuck inside, managed to fall through a rotten floorboard and land on my wrist. I broke it of course but couldn’t tell anyone cos they would have known what I had been doing. Anyway, it was probably about two or three days later when finally it had swollen up and bruised so much that I couldn’t move it at all and my aunt Polly realised I’d broken it. She got the whole story out of me and then after she took me to the hospital to get bandaged up and set, she slapped me around the head and told me that if I ever broke into someone’s house again I’d think I was lucky to come away with more than just a slap and a broken wrist.”

“Your aunt is terrifyin’ to be fair,” Alfie chortled. “Don’t think I’d like to get on her wrong side.”

“Out of all the family, she’s probably the only one I’m actually scared of.”

“Well it worked, didn’t it? Cos now that little hooligan is a beautiful woman who just happens to be my wife,” Alfie leaned forward and brushed her hair back from her face and rubbed his nose against hers before planting a kiss upon her lips. There was nothing leading about their kiss; it was an exploration, a wordless explanation of feelings neither could yet put into words.

“Is it always like this?” Niamh asked quietly when they finally separated. She cupped his face and smiled when he turned his head to kiss her palm. “You know, when people have been… like afterwards, does it always feel so… right?”

“Sex you mean?” Alfie clarified.

“Yeah,” she nodded, her cheeks heating up.

“Aint never been like this for me before, no,” Alfie shook his head.

“What does that mean?”

“Damned if I know,” he admitted with a shrug. “But I wanna find out.”


	7. Chapter Seven

Niamh’s leg bobbed up and down with something between excitement and trepidation. Alfie’s driver wouldn’t be picking her up for another hour, and as much as she was looking forward to seeing Tommy after so long, she almost found herself nervous. It sounded ridiculous but what if he knew that she and Alfie had made love? Twice in fact. She was being stupid, of course she was. First of all, it wasn’t like she suddenly had some sign on her forehead that declared she was no longer a virgin, and secondly she was a married woman for crying out loud. It was literally expected. She groaned at her own idiocy and decided to phone Ada to pass the time. She dialled

the number from memory and tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for someone to answer. 

“What?” 

“Is that how you were taught to answer the phone, Karl Thorne?”

“Aunty Niamh? That you?” 

“No it’s the a Queen of Camden,” Niamh tutted. “Course it’s me you divvy. Why aren’t you at school?”

“Told mum I felt sick so she said I could stay off,” Karl answered proudly. “Uncle John taught me to put a hot towel on my bed before Mum came to take my temperature and it worked!”

“I know you were lying, you little shit,” Niamh heard Ada say incredulously from somewhere in the background. “Get to your room now or I’ll send you into school.” 

“It’s nearly lunchtime,” Karl answered smartly. 

“I don’t care,” Ada was firm. 

Niamh grinned to herself as she pictured Ada’s scowl and raised eyebrow; the look she always gave Tommy when she was displeased with him. She just knew Karl was on the receiving end of that very look. There was a bit of shuffling and what sounded like foot stamping and then Ada grabbed the phone. 

“I wondered when you were going to phone.” 

“It’s only been a few weeks,” Niamh chuckled.

“Well that’s a few weeks too many,” Ada answered curtly. “I need all of that wonderful Camden gossip.” 

“Oh yeah because there’s so much of it,” Niamh snorted. “I mean in between sitting in the house reading most of the day, there’s the occasional fight that needs breaking up between two finches in the garden. Oh and yesterday and saw a rat as big as Arthur’s foot when I took Cyril for a walk.” 

“See what I mean?” Ada laughed. “The excitement is too much bear. I wonder what it’ll be next?

Old ladies scrapping in the street over their shopping? Cats attacking you when you put out the rubbish?”

“I’ll have you know I live in a very nice area, Ada. No fighting or any of that shit round here. It’s full of hoity toity bastards.”

“What the fuck are you two living there for then?” Ada snorted. “Can you just imagine the faces of the people when they first met their new neighbour, Alfie Solomons? Jesus Christ I bet the fucking women’s committee were having a meltdown. Then again knowing those sort of women, I bet they fancied having a tumble with him instead.” 

“Thanks Ada,” Niamh scowled playfully. “I don’t want to think about how many women on my street have slept with my husband.” 

“Spoilsport,” Ada huffed. “Well if you won’t talk about other women fucking him, are you at least going to tell me if you’ve finally fucked him yet?” 

“Ada!” Niamh exclaimed. “You can’t ask me something like that.”

“Pretty sure I just did. You’re my little sister which means I can ask you whatever I want. So... is that a yes or a no?” 

“That’s a ‘it’s none of your business’.”

“You have!” Ada gasped gleefully. “I need details immediately.”

“Ada,” Niamh sighed.

“Don’t you bloody Ada me. Tell me everything otherwise I’m phoning Polly and she’ll ask you instead.” 

“I don’t wanna talk about it with either of you thanks,” Niamh tutted. “But I suppose

you really are the lesser of two evils.” 

“Ok before you start let me just check that the little shit isn’t listening.”

“That’s an awful way to talk about your son.”

“Yeah, well when you have one that’s like the devil incarnate you’ll understand,” Ada scoffed. 

As Ada disappeared momentarily to check on Karl, Niamh couldn’t help but think for a moment about the fact that one day she was going to have children of her own; and with Alfie Solomons no less. She had always wanted children; it was a given coming from a family like hers, but the reality of it happening possibly soon was sort of terrifying.

“I’m back,” Ada announced, sounding a little out of breath. “Just as I suspected, the little bugger was listening to our conversation using the phone in my bedroom. I’ve sent him down to the shop for some sweets so you’ve got precisely ten minutes to tell me just how good or bad Alfie Solomons is in the sack.”

“Ada,” Niamh couldn’t help but chuckle at Ada’s bluntness. “I’m not telling you anything, I already said that.”

“Niamh Shelby- I mean, Solomons- you _have_ to tell me,” Ada demanded. “And not just because I threatened you with Polly but because we’re sisters. When I slept with Freddie, I told you didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you told me far more than I bloody wanted to know,” Niamh scoffed.

“It’s not my fault I’m just very open,” Ada muttered. “Now come on, just tell me one thing then; was he good?”

“If I tell you, do you swear that you won’t ask anything else?”

“Cross my heart,” Ada promised.

“Fine,” Niamh groaned, a smile breaking out upon her face as she thought about the night before. And this morning.“It was… I… oh, Ada this is embarrassing.”

“Oh piss off, Niamh, how can you be embarrassed? I’m your bloody sister, for Gods sakes. I’ve shared a bed with you near enough our whole lives; I’ve bathed with you when you had that god awful stomach bug and shit in the water; I’ve brushed nits out of your hair; I’ve-“

“-I get the idea,” Niamh interrupted her. “Fine, I’ll tell you because otherwise I’m never gonna hear the end of it. Alfie is very… hm… it’s…he’s very good, erm, good. More than good actually. I mean I don’t have anything else to compare it to but… yeah.”

Ada made a sort of excited squeal down the end of the phone and Niamh couldn’t stop laughing, despite how embarrassed she felt.

“So how many times have you two done the deed?” Ada asked.

“You said you weren’t going to ask anything else,” Niamh said indignantly. “In fact you promised.”

“Yeah well I had my fingers crossed,” Ada chortled. “So come on, I need more details.”

“Not a chance,” Niamh shook her head. “In fact, I think I heard the doorbell so I’d better go.”

“Niamh, don’t you dare,” Ada warned.

“Bye, Ada; give Karl a kiss for me.”

Niamh slammed the phone down and let out a sigh. Bloody sisters. Thank God she only had one of them because there was no way she could cope with an interrogation from more. She was certain though that there would be one to come from Polly at some point in the near future. Not that she had time to think about that now because she needed to go and get ready for lunch.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The restaurant was somewhat out of Alfie’s comfort zone; all posh and what not, and judging by the smarmy look on Tommy’s face, the Peaky Blinder knew it as well. Their meeting had adjourned half an hour ago and since then the two of them had painfully tried to force awkward conversation until Niamh arrived. Alfie was the first to spot her, and he was out of his seat and across the restaurant floor before Niamh had even checked her coat in with the concierge.

“Thank fuckin’ God you’re here,” he muttered, taking her by the hand. “If I had to spend another second on my own with your brother, I reckon I might have taken up drinkin’.”

“Hi Niamh,” she rolled her eyes. “Nice to see you too, Niamh.”

Alfie tutted but smiled and led her outside the dining room for a moment, ignoring her puzzled gaze when he didn’t stop until they were in a quiet corner, out of sight. Pulling her into his arms, he brushed her hair back from her face and kissed her softly on the lips.

“Mm, I missed you,” his eyes were dark with lust and something else that Niamh couldn’t quite place. “Been waitin’ all day to do that.”

“It’s only lunchtime,” Niamh chuckled, cupping his face and standing up on her tiptoes to kiss him back quickly.

“Don’t care,” he grumbled, tracing a finger down her nose. “I wanna kiss you all day every day, don’t I? But instead I’ve spent most of the mornin’ starin’ at your brother’s ugly mug.”

“Hey,” Niamh pretended to pout. “You might not like him but he’s still my brother. Did you two get your business sorted then?”

“Just about. That’s unless your brother changes his mind again. Anyway, I don’t wanna talk about him right now. I like your dress; I’d like it even more on our bedroom floor,” Alfie’s eyes roved Niamh’s body and his hand slipped under skirt sneakily.

“Alfie!” she hissed, slapping his hand away as her face turned bright red.

“What?” he shrugged, a smirk decorating his face. “No one can see us, and any way it aint my fault that my wife’s so beautiful, is it? What do you say we fuck your brother off and go home, eh?”

“Sorry to interrupt whatever _this_ is but I thought we were meant to be having lunch?”

“Tommy!” Niamh exclaimed, forgetting her shame at having been caught in a rather interesting clinch with Alfie. She threw her arms around Tommy, giggling when he picked her up and kissed her cheek.

“Have you always been this heavy?” he frowned, setting her to her feet and taking a good look at her as though he hadn’t seen her in years not weeks.

“You calling me fat?” Niamh raised a curt eyebrow but couldn’t keep her face straight long enough to make Tommy think that she was being serious. She hugged him again, squeezing him tight and breathing in his familiar smell- the smell of home- and he rubbed her back soothingly. He would never say it out loud in front of Alfie but he had missed her greatly.

“Would I ever do such a thing?” he narrowed his playful eyes at his sister who just slapped him on the arm and snorted.

“Yes actually, you fucking would. Now can we go and eat cos I’m starving.”

“When are you not?” Tommy muttered under his breath. “Anyway, it was you two who were messing about out here, not me.”

“Shut up,” Niamh blushed.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“So how’s married life treating you?” Tommy asked over lunch.

“Can’t complain,” Alfie shrugged nonchalantly.

“Can’t complain?” Niamh turned to look at him with a frown. “That’s it?”

“What?” Alfie asked incredulously.

“I think what’s happening here, Niamh, is that Alfie doesn’t want to let me know that marriage to a Shelby agrees with him,” Tommy smirked into his tumbler of whiskey.

“Observant as always,” Alfie nodded to Tommy, placing a hand to rest on Niamh’s knee. “Perhaps if you’d wipe that smug fuckin’ look off your face then I might not have such a problem admittin’ that I’m actually rather happy. And also, she aint a Shelby no more.”

Tommy wasn’t entirely sure what to make of Alfie’s declaration. It was obvious from the looks passed between the two that both Niamh and Alfie were happy with their arranged marriage, but Tommy couldn’t let go of the niggle in the back of his head that this was all part of Alfie’s plan to lull the family into a false sense of security. Just like he had done so many times in the past.

“So how’s Pol?” Niamh asked, breaking him from his thoughts. “I’ve been meaning to phone her but the last few times I tried, she was out. Did you know she has a housekeeper now?”

“Gone up in the world, our Pol,” Tommy muttered. “She’s going to stay with Ada this weekend I think.”

“Oh yeah? I’ll try and get hold of her there then.”

“Mr Shelby?” one of the waiters appeared. “I’m sorry to interrupt your meal but there’s a phone call for you. A Mr Dogs.”

“Excuse me a minute,” Tommy sighed, getting up to follow the waiter into the lobby.

“Can we go home yet?” Alfie spoke quietly.

“We’ve not even had dessert yet,” Niamh shook her head but smiled. “I know this is probably awkward but he’s being really nice and I’ve missed him, you know.”

“I know,” Alfie sighed.

Niamh gave him a quick peck on the cheek and then reached for the dessert menu to decide what she wanted. Of course it would have to be something with chocolate but she didn’t know exactly what just yet. Her breath caught in her throat when suddenly she felt Alfie’s hand slide up her thigh just a little, the cold of his rings against her sensitive skin making her shiver, and he squeezed ever so slightly.

“I think I’ll have my dessert at home,” he murmured, leaning towards her under the guise of reading the menu with her.

Niamh’s breathing faltered and her mouth parted in silent ecstasy when his hand moved up higher, his fingers trailing beneath the skirt of her dress and brushing her core over her thin silky underwear. Biting her lip, Niamh tried her best to pretend that she was completely unaffected as his fingers threatened to slip beneath her underwear.

“Alfie please, he’s coming back,” she begged, trying to return the easy smile her brother cast her as he made his way back to the table.

“Sorry about that,” Tommy cleared his throat and sat back down. “Oh I see Niamh’s got the dessert menu ready. Let me guess, chocolate cake?”

“Loves a bit of chocolate cake, don’t you?” Alfie grinned at her innocently. “With plenty of _cream_.”

Niamh yelped as one of his fingers traced her wet slit beneath her underwear and Tommy frowned at her in concern.

“Sorry,” she muttered, her voice croaky as Alfie’s hand became more insistent. “Cramp.”

Alfie’s finger began to rub in slow circles and Niamh had to squeeze her hands in her lap in an attempt to stop herself from moaning right at the table. Just as she was about to make a sound, Alfie removed his hand and peered at Niamh with worry. “You know, you look a bit flushed.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure I feel so well,” she grimaced, and if Tommy didn’t buy her act his face didn’t show it. “Would you hate me if we had to cut lunch short?”

“Course not,” Tommy smiled. “I should get back anyway and make sure your brothers are behaving themselves.”

For Niamh, it felt like hours waiting for the server to come with the bill, and for her and Tommy to say their goodbyes. All the while, Alfie’s eyes ate her up hungrily and she was physically trembling by the time Tommy retrieved her coat for her and helped to slip it on. When he mentioned it, she put it down to her not feeling well and Tommy didn’t argue. He simply told Alfie to take good care of her and said he would phone later to see how she was, and then after one final hug they went their separate ways.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The car ride home was fraught with tension. Alfie wriggled uncomfortable in his seat, tapping his cane impatiently on the floor, eager to get home.

“Ishmael, can’t you go any faster, mate?” Alfie grumbled, not daring to glance in Niamh’s direction because he most definitely didn’t think he would be able to stop himself from fucking her right there and then in the back seat of the car.

When they finally arrived home, they had barely made it through the front door before they were yanking each other’s clothes off desperately as their mouths clashed together in an explosion of want. Too impatient to make it upstairs, Alfie pushed Niamh against the hallway wall, tearing at her underwear and pushing himself inside of her with a hard thrust. He took one of her legs and wrapped it around his hip, grabbing hold of the thigh to keep it there while he thrust into her again and again without mercy, not even caring when her head banged against the wall. There were no sweet words; no slow and tender movements. Instead this was raw and animalistic and when Niamh came apart, Alfie was right behind her within seconds.

“Fuckin’ hell,” Alfie panted, resting his head against her neck while he tried to catch his breath. He made a move to lower Niamh’s leg to the ground and she let out a pained groan.

“Fuck,” she hissed with a grimace. “Now I really have got bloody cramp.”

Alfie was the first to start laughing; a throaty chuckle that soon turned into a full belly laugh which made Niamh laugh as well. Soon enough the two of them were doubled over with laughter, high on life and on their feelings for each other.

But very soon they would be forced to come back down to earth with a bump. After all, the greater the ascent, the sharper the decline.


	8. Chapter Eight

Alfie was in his study sorting out some paperwork when Niamh let out the most blood curdling scream ever heard in the entirety of mankind. Taking the stairs two at a time, Alfie burst through the bedroom door expecting to find his wife half dead but when he saw her stood on the bed clutching a bath towel around her body with a look of sheer horror on her face he frowned.

“What the hell are you screechin’ like a bloody banshee for?”

“I was sat at the dressing table doing my hair and the biggest ever spider just crawled across my foot,” Niamh answered.

“A spider?” Alfie scoffed. “I thought you were bein’ murdered woman.”

“It wasn’t _just_ a spider,” Niamh pouted. “It was huge and it was all hairy and just bleurgh… It’s right under the dressing table now just staring at me.”

Alfie shook his head and tutted; bloody women and their bloody dramatics over little insects. He pulled the little stool out of the way and couched down to find the little critter that was causing so much fuss, and he was actually a little taken aback to find that it was rather huge. Not that he would tell Niamh so. Scooping it up in his hands, Niamh squealed when he walked past the bed and towards the window.

“Sure you don’t wanna say hello,” he pushed his hands towards her face making her scramble back on the bed as far as she could.

Alfie guffawed loudly, getting the reaction he hoped for, and once he had released the eight legged monster he reached over to grab Niamh by the ankles and drag her down the bed towards him.

“You… are a nutter,” he grinned, placing his hands either side of her face and lightly resting his body against hers. “And how is it you had no problem picking up that mouse in the garden the other day but you’re afraid of a little spider?”

“Ok, it wasn’t little and you know it,” Niamh narrowed her eyes at him, trying to ignore how good he smelt and how warm he felt on top of her. “And if you really want to know why I’m afraid of spiders then you can blame John. When we were kids, I accidentally broke one of his toys and when I was asleep that night he snuck into mine and Ada’s bedroom and threw a cup of spiders he’d collected all over me.”

“I’d say I was shocked but considerin’ your brother- in fact all your brothers- are fuckin’ animals it aint really surprisin’,” Alfie smirked.

“Hey,” Niamh scowled, punching him in the chest. “That’s not very nice.”

“Oh I’m sorry,” he murmured, brushing his lips over hers as one of his hands reached for the towel covering her. “I think this needs to come off.”

“Ha, not a chance. The only reason this is coming off is so that I can get dressed.”

“That aint very nice, is it?” Alfie tutted. “Especially not after I just rescued you from that giant spider.”

“It was hardly giant,” Niamh smirked. “Now get off me you great oaf so I can get dressed.”

Alfie eyes watched her for a moment, narrowing them slightly and trying to decide what to do when he scrunched up his nose and shook his head. Niamh screeched when he yanked the towel off without warning and threw it behind him before his mouth descended on hers. They both knew she wasn’t going to resist and when her hands snaked up into his hair, Alfie grinned against her lips.

He loved that he was always able to get his own way with her. There really were perks to being married to someone beautiful like his wife was.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

“Stop fiddlin’ with your hair,” Alfie tutted, pulling Niamh’s hand down gently and keeping hold of it.

“I look a mess,” Niamh huffed. “And it’s all your bloody fault because I didn’t have time to do my hair properly.”

“You weren’t complainin’ when my mouth was on your-“

The door swung open before Alfie could finish his sentence and Niamh prayed that Ollie didn’t notice her red face as he welcomed them into his home. Ollie Jr and Abraham were ecstatic to see Uncle Alfie especially when he presented them with a bag of sweets each and some new colouring pencils.

“Oh so you two decided to show up then,” Karina stepped out of the kitchen with baby Joshua in her arms and a floral apron wrapped around her waist.

“Sorry we’re a bit late, Karina,” Alfie apologised kissing her on the cheek. “We got a bit… distracted.”

“I don’t want to know,” Karina chuckled, reaching around Alfie to hug Niamh who didn’t even ask before scooping Joshua up for a cuddle.

“He’s grown so much,” Niamh cooed down at the baby, smiling when he started to babble incessantly at her.

“Handsome little bugger, aint he?” Alfie reached for the baby’s finger, grinning when he squeezed it. “Definitely get that off your Uncle Alfie don’t ya, mate?”

“I heard that,” Ollie pretended to frown as he wrestled the sweet bags from his boys to hide in the kitchen until after dinner. As he walked past Niamh he bent down to kiss his son’s head. “All three of my boys look like their mum and I couldn’t be happier with that because she’s beautiful.”

“Soppy twat,” Alfie grunted but secretly he thought there was something rather sweet about the way Ollie and Karina were still so in love despite being parents to three children and having barely no time alone together anymore. “What’s for dinner then cos I’m starvin’.”

“Alfie, that’s so rude,” Niamh scowled at him.

“Don’t worry, Niamh,” Karina smirked. “We’re used to him by now. Go and sit your bum down at the dinner table, Alf, and you’ll find out as soon I serve up, won’t you?”

“Wow invite people over for dinner and then talk to them like crap,” Alfie huffed indignantly in Karina’s direction. “Good job I’ve been excited about eatin’ your cookin’ all week otherwise I’d be out of that door right now.”

“Uncle Alfie!” Abraham shouted from the dining room. “Come and sit next to me.”

“No sit next to me!” Ollie Jr shouted.

“At least your kids like me,” Alfie commented with a grin. “Come on, Niamh.”

“Do you want some help, Karina?” Niamh asked.

“Keep hold of the baby if you don’t mind,” Karina grinned. “And make sure the boys don’t kill each other in their fight to both sit next to Alfie, yeah?”

In the living room, Alfie had the boys sit down either side of him to avoid any arguments and Niamh sat down opposite him holding Joshua, who was half awake and reaching out for Niamh’s hair with his chubby little hand. Niamh grabbed his fist and pretended to chew it, drawing the sweetest chuckle from him that made even Alfie smile. His chest tightened as he watched Niamh cooing down at the baby and making him laugh again and again, and Alfie realised that more than anything he wanted to see her doing that with their own child one day.

When Karina and Ollie had served up dinner, Niamh asked if she should put the baby in his bassinet but Karina sighed and shook her head, explaining that the baby was so unsettled lately that unless he was being held he would just scream and cry.

“I blame Ollie,” Karina narrowed her eyes playfully at her husband, who offered to take the baby so that his wife could eat.

“Don’t be daft,” Karina waved him off. “Just cut up my dinner for me if you would and then I only need one hand to eat with.”

“Have you thought about using a sling,” Niamh suggested as Ollie reached across for his wife’s plate.

“A what?” Karina frowned.

“Have you got a large blanket?” Niamh asked, smiling when Karina eyed her warily but nonetheless she disappeared to find one.

“Right, hold Joshua against your chest like that,” Niamh ordered gently when Karina returned, trying to remember how Esme used to make a sling back at Watery Lane. The first time didn’t quite work but once Niamh realised her error the second attempt was a success, and a few a minutes later, baby Joshua was snuggled up against his mother’s chest while she had her hands free to eat her dinner.

“Where on earth did you learn that?” Karina smiled, suitably impressed.

“I come from a big family,” Niamh shrugged. “And there’s always work to be done on traveller camps so it’s just an easy way to keep babies quiet while you’re getting on with what needs to be done.”

“You’ll have to show me again later how you did that because I think you’ve just changed my life for the better,” Karina chuckled, brushing a hand over the top of Joshua’s head as his eyes started to drift shut.

“Never knew you gypsies were good for anythin’ other than stealin’ and connin’ people but you’ve proved me wrong,” Alfie commented, his eyes twinkling with mirth. 

“It’s a good job you’re on the other side of the table, Alf, otherwise I’d punch you right now,” Niamh glared.

“Mummy, Niamh said she’s going to punch Uncle Alfie,” Abraham gasped. “Does she need to go to the naughty corner now.”

“Yeah she absolutely does, Abe,” Alfie nodded. “She’s a disgrace, aint she? You can’t see it right cos I’m a man, but I’m cryin’ inside, Abe. I reckon I might need an extra helpin’ of dessert later to cheer me up.”

“Yeah, and I think I need extra dessert too, Mummy cos I’m crying inside just like Uncle Alfie,” Abraham declared making the adults around the table burst out in laughter.

“We’ll steal Aunty Niamh’s dessert, mate,” Alfie guffawed, patting Abraham’s head and ruffing up his hair. “Tell you what, Ollie, there’s no flies on this one. Once he’s old enough I’ll be gettin’ rid of you and employin’ him instead. He’ll do a much better job.”

“Alfie, are you just out to offend everyone during dinner?” Niamh shook her head at him.

“Nah, only you, love,” he winked. “And you know you like it when I tease you.”

“That’ll do thank you very much,” Karina grinned. “Save whatever _this_ is for your own home.”

“Blame him,” Niamh tutted but as soon as Karina’s attention was back on chopping her dinner up, she looked up and winked back at Alfie who wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“I can see you two,” Karina commented. “Behave at my dinner table.”

“Jesus, Ollie your wife’s a bloody tyrant,” Alfie tutted.

“Here’s a suggestion,” Ollie spoke. “Everyone be quiet and eat your dinner up.”

“So you have got some bollocks then, Ollie?” Alfie grinned, suitably impressed. “All right, all right, don’t look at me like that, I’m eatin’. Fuckin’ hell.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The women were in the kitchen washing up the dishes while Ollie and Alfie were watching the boys play with their toys on the living room floor. Ollie took the opportunity to remind Alfie that after the weekend he had a meeting with a very important business associate. Not that Alfie had forgotten; there was absolutely no way he _could_ forget. This meeting was one he had been absolutely dreading for weeks.

Four months ago, Levi Janowicz had turned up at the bakery demanding a meeting with Alfie, who had been annoyed yet intrigued to find out what the man wanted. After all, he singlehandedly ruled over half of Liverpool and to see another Jew doing well was never a bad thing, and it was far better to have the man as an ally than an enemy. It turned out that old Levi had his sights set on Birmingham and the Peaky Blinders.

_“Don’t we fuckin’ all, mate?” Alfie had chortled._

But the truth was that as much as he liked Tommy Shelby, which he honestly kind of did in a strange sort of way, to Alfie business was business and he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to expand and make more money. He and Janowicz had agreed to help bring down the Shelbys together and when the opportunity for Alfie to marry into the family and lull Tommy into a false sense of security had presented itself, it had been just the ticket they had needed. It had been perfect. They would wait for a couple of months after the wedding and then start putting their plan into action.

“What are you gonna do about the meeting?” Ollie asked.

“What do you mean what am I gonna do?” Alfie frowned.

“Well I just thought that things might have changed since you two last spoke,” Ollie mumbled. “You know, because of how you and Niamh are-“

“-How me and Niamh are what?”

“Just that you two seem to be getting along well and I suppose I thought that you might have changed your mind about this business with Janowicz.”

“I don’t pay you to think do I, Ollie?” Alfie scowled. “So you just mind your own business and leave me to mind mine, yeah? Good lad.”

“I hope you two aren’t fighting in here,” Karina’s voice made the men both look up.

“Course not,” Ollie smiled quickly. “We were just talking.”

“Hmm,” Karina narrowed her eyes at the men and then at Niamh who just shrugged.

“Knowing Alfie, he was probably telling Ollie off for something ridiculous,” Niamh smirked at her husband.

“That’s not fair,” Alfie pulled a face.

“And neither is the way you talk to poor Ollie,” Niamh chastised him.

“Right, I aint takin’ any more of this; I’m goin’ home,” Alfie stood up with pretend annoyance. “Grab your coat, Niamh, we’re goin’.”

“Did Niamh upset you again?” Abraham asked, looking up from his wooden horse figure.

“Mmhmm,” Alfie nodded. “So I’m gonna take her home and tan her arse.”

“Lucky Niamh,” Karina snorted, earning a chuckle from her husband.

“Fuckin’ appallin’,” Alfie pretended to look disgusted with Karina but beneath his beard his lips were twitching slightly. “I aint sure I want my wife hangin’ round with you, Karina. Ollie, your wife is a filthy minded heathen.”

“Takes one to know one, Alfie,” Karina grinned.

“Dirty mare,” Alfie tutted.

On the way home, Alfie sat quietly as Niamh chattered on about a plan she and Karina had to make and donate baby and children’s clothes for the less fortunate families in Camden, and how next week Karina was going to teach her how to make _challah_ bread _._ Niamh talked and talked and talked but Alfie didn’t hear a word of what she said. Her mouth was moving and her eyes were animated with excitement but all he could think about was the meeting on Monday morning. Ollie was right, which was precisely why Alfie had bitten his head off. His feelings for Niamh were growing stronger by the day, and as much as he didn’t care about hurting her family, he cared about hurting _her_. If he went through with this plan, he was going to hurt her and he was going to lose her. Was fucking over Tommy Shelby really worth losing the only woman he’d ever had feelings for in his entire life? But if he didn’t he was making an enemy of a man who wouldn’t take this turn of events well. Alfie was very much stuck between a rock and a hard place with no clear idea of escape. At least not one he could think of.


End file.
